The Following Clips Introduce Us To Kevin Bacon's Ryan Hardy

Arriving on Fox tonight is Kevin Williamson's new thriller-drama The Following. The clips we have to show you from the series premiere introduce to Kevin Bacon's character FBI agent Ryan Hardy, and in a less direct way, serial killer Joe Carroll, played by James Purefoy.

If you've seen the promos for the series, you know that The Following stars Bacon and Purefoy and follows Bacon's character's pursuit of Purefoy's Joe Carroll, a serial killer who escapes prison. The clip below shows us where former FBI agent Ryan Hardy is when news breaks that Carroll has broken out of prison. The clip that follows shows Hardy showing up at the FBI to find them being briefed by Shawn Ashmore's Mike Weston about Joe Carroll.

The few minutes of footage show us quite a bit about Hardy. He begins his day by chugging water, then throws the empty bottle into a pail that contains a bigger bottle that suggests a possible drinking problem. His attention is immediately caught by the news report that Carroll has broken out of prison. We see the scar on his chest while he's in the shower. And later, when he's at the FBI, he doesn't appear to be especially enthusiastic about voicing his knowledge of Joe Carroll's mindset and methods, but he does so anyway (especially after he's called out by Weston).

It's just a taste of what's to come from tonight's premiere, which airs on Fox (Monday, January 21) at 9/8c. Read our review of The Followinghere.